Summer Love (Just Another Summer)
by 7AnonymousPython7
Summary: Misty is chaos personified. Her arch enemy is George, a son of Athena. The problem? Everyone at camp ships Misty and George together. Those two are determined to not let the campers succeed in their match-making mission, but it isn't all that easy. Misty needs to realize that peaceful times can be fun too.
1. Introduction

**Hey guys!**

**So I'm starting this new series, called 'Just Another Summer'. Each story will take place during one summer at Camp Half-Blood. They revolve around my five main OCs:**

**Mallika 'Misty' Mistero (daughter of Eris)**

**Carla Favio (daughter of Thanatos)**

**Mario Favio (son of Thanatos)**

**Jessica 'Jessi' O'Ryan (daughter of Apollo)**

**George Avalon (son of Athena)**

**And numerous other minor OCs, and some canon characters. :)**

**So, here goes my first story, about Misty's summer.**

**Peace out!**

**~ Akela**


	2. Chapter 1

I'm probably the luckiest demigod ever.

I'm Misty. My name isn't actually Misty, it's Mallika Mistero, but what kind of name is _Mallika_?

I have a great life. I have awesome friends, a cute little foster sister, and absolutely brilliant foster parents. My life has always been a lark, despite the fact that most demigods don't have happy lives. The worst part of my life was when my real father died, but I was only four years old then, and like I said, my foster family's cool.

I didn't mention my real mother, right? That's because she's a goddess. Eris, the goddess of chaos and discord. I keep causing trouble somehow, because of that, even when I try not to. Conflict just seems to follow me. If you'll forgive the quote from Harry Potter, I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me.

_But,_ it's okay, because my foster parents know about my godly mother, since Eris herself sent them a note when they adopted me. I still have it, folded away in my di a ry. It's made of soft faded golden paper, with an apple sketched in the corner. I did some research about my mom (yeah, I googled my mom) and found out that it's her symbol, the golden apple of discord.

Anyways, on the paper were three lines in scrawly handwriting pretty similar to mine (just even worse):

_Take care of my daughter, and don't blame her for my traits. She can't help it._

_\- Eris, goddess of chaos and discord (you folks know Greek mythology, right?)_

Haha, _no_, mom, my foster parents aren't big fans of Greek mythology. I love it, though. So much war and tragedy and... chaos.

I guess I should introduce my foster family. My parents are Dani (short for Daniela) and Josh Taylors. Josh is the best father ever; he taught me to ride a bike and play the guitar. And because I can't do things in a structured way, he let me make up crazy chords on the guitar, and freewheel down steep slopes. He understands that you can't control chaos; you just have to let it flow. And Dani... she balances out my craziness. She coaxes me to study for tests at school, even though my dyslexia makes it hard for me. And when I occasionally do pass, she bakes brownies for me.

And my little sis, Stella. She's all curly blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes and general ten year old adorableness. She's very particular, neat to the point of OCD-ness, but we get along fine.

I go to Camp Half-Blood during summer and regular mortal school during the rest of the year. Most demigods hate school, but it's okay for me. At home I try to control my urge to wreck all the peace, but at school I don't care. I'm the bad girl, the don't-care-ish type, the queen of the school.

On the last day of school before summer, I was shaken awake by Stella.

"Get up, Misty." she said. "You'll be late for school."

"Sure, Stel." I said. I yawned and sat up, then pulled Stella in for a hug. "Excited about last day of school?"

"Well, kind of." she replied, giggling as I tickled her. "I like holidays, but you won't be here for summer."

"I have to go to camp." I said. "It's the best place for people like me."

"I know, but I hate it when you're not at home." Stella pouted. "Who'll take me to the mall and tell off the annoying kids who try to pick on me?"

"Tell you what." I put my hands on her shoulders. "I'll ask my friend Carla to shadow travel me here, sometime during summer. We'll hang out then."

"Yes!" Stella hugged me tight, then ran off to get ready for school. That kid can't bear to be late.

I took a shower, then chose my clothes for last day of school. I picked out ripped skinny jeans, a purple and blue shirt, and a short black leather jacket. I pulled on socks (one purple with golden spots, the other multi-colour stripes). Then I brushed my hair.

My hair... is kind of a mystery, even to me. It's black, but on some days it's straight, on others it's wavy, sometimes it curls up tighter than I thought possible. Maybe it hates being normal, just like me.

My hair was straight today, so I left it open, letting purple streaked bangs fall across my eyes. My eyes are weird, too big, too black, definitely not pretty. Good.

Then I slid my feet into checked black, purple, blue and silver converse, and dashed down the stairs, taking them four at a time and taking the last six in a leap, landing with a thud at the bottom.

"Hey Dani." I said, grabbing my cup of coffee from the kitchen counter. Dani is flipping pancakes at the stove.

"Good morning sweetheart." she said, stopping to give me a one armed hug, taking care not to spill the coffee. "I think your friend sent you a message."

"Where?" I asked.

"It's on the dining table." she replied, then turned to Stella as she skipped down the stairs, dressed neatly in a sky blue cardigan and grey jeans. Her backpack was hung over her shoulders and her hair was tied in two braids.

"Good morning, darling." Dani hugged Stella.

"Good morning mom." Stella replied, hugging Dani back. I grinned as Stella took her plate of pancakes, then turned to the dining table. There was a folded paper-plane lying on it, made of post-it paper.

I unfolded it.

_Hey Misty,_

_Hope you actually get this note. I asked Mellie to if she could get the cloud and wind spirits to fly it over to your place. She said no problem, but I'm kind of iffy about this type of messaging._

_Anyway, since Mario is dying to see you again (dying, we're the children of Thanatos, get it? I know it's not funny anymore, but whatever), he volunteered to pick you up from school and get you to camp directly, via shadow travel. Is that cool? Mario will anyways turn up at your school at 4 pm, and if you'd rather get to camp some other way, then he can come back._

_Looking forwards to causing trouble with you..._

_Cheers,_

_Carla_

I laughed. "Dani, can I go straight to camp from school? My friend Carla says her brother can pick me up and take me there?"

"Sure, sweetheart." Dani said. "Carla's brother... that's Mario, isn't it? The guy you dated two years ago."

"Yep." I confirmed. "But we're just friends now."

"Who's just friends?" Josh said, walking down the stairs, dressed for work at his bank in his suit. "Morning, little troublemaker."

"I'm not little." I protested, but grinned anyways.

"Good morning daddy!" Stella called from the kitchen, where she was eating her pancake.

"Morning, little star!" Josh called back. He has nicknames for Stella and me. I'm troublemaker, and Stella's star.

"So, who's just friends?" he asked me.

"Me and Mario." I said.

"Mario and I." Stella corrects.

"Mario and I." I repeat, ruffling my sister's hair. "Remember, the guy I was dating two years ago?"

"Mario Favio." Josh recollected. "Yes, of course. Your friend Carla's brother, right?"

"Yeah, he offered to pick me up from school to take me straight to camp." I said.

"Nice of him." Josh said. "Anyways, you better get going, troublemaker. Don't want to be late for school."

"No, Josh." I said meekly, then cackled evilly. I swung my backpack onto one shoulder. I hugged Josh tightly, then Dani, then finally Stella.

"I'll miss you guys." I said.

"We will too, sweetheart." Dani kissed the top of my head. "IM us, okay?"

"Of course." I said.

"Have fun at camp." Josh said.

"Will do." I grinned, then walked out of the door backwards, waving on e last time before turning around and heading for the bus stop.

My backpack was especially heavy today, since I was carrying camp stuff. That included a few changes of clothes, ambrosia and nectar, duct tape (essential demigod tool) and my knives.

My knives are the coolest weapons ever. There are three of them, in silver, celestial bronze and imperial gold. They are never the same, changing size and shape. In battle they are tuned to my thoughts, so they can grow and shrink as I unconsciously will them to, or become sharper, blunter, diamond-shaped, leaf-bladed, triangle-shaped, anything. They're the perfect weapons, suiting themselves for any purpose.

At the bus stop, two of my school-mates were also waiting. Sam and Kelly, brother and sister, one year below and above me respectively. They smiled at me when I came up, and I nodded back, letting the corner of my mouth twitch upwards.

"What are you doing for summer?" Kelly asked.

"Summer camp." I said, bumping fists with Sam.

"Oh. We're going to Germany." Kelly said.

"Our cousin Claudia lives there, and we're visiting her." Sam explained.

The bus rolled up just then. I got on first, and headed for the back seats. I sat down between my two best friends at school, Sania and Aria Farchild. They're identical twins, with brown hair and grey eyes. They're both the troublemakers of the school, and I'm their leader.

"I could have sworn your hair was curly yesterday." Sania said, flicking a strand of my hair.

"Maybe it was." I grinned.

"Mysterious Misty." Aria said. "You could be a book character."

"Yeah, then she could be a pathetic side-kick." Drew Tanaka, the snob of the school, turned around and treated us to her worst eye-roll ever.

Drew is also a demigod, daughter of Aphrodite. At camp we usually ignore each other, but at school she's a perfect person to annoy.

I leaned forwards in my seat. "Hey Drew, why're you taking the bus today?"

"Skye wanted to meet me at school and tell me something important." Drew said, looking a bit unsettled by my wide grin.

"You know, I think Skye just wanted you to come later than usual." I said, lowering my voice confidentially. "I saw her the other day with your latest boyfriend, what's his name again?" I drummed my fingers on the back of her seat, looking up as if thinking hard.

"Dylan?" Drew asked. "Dylan's cheating on me with _Skye_?"

I shrugged innocently. "I just saw them making out behind the..."

"I need to talk to her!" Drew screeched. She dug out her phone, which had a pink sparkly case, and started texting Skye, or Dylan, or both.

"Nice one." Aria said, while Sania held up her hand for a high-five.

"Thanks." I grinned, slapping my palm against Sania's. "I try."

As our bus reached Brooklyn Academy for the Gifted (aka BAG), Drew ran (or what is approximated as running in three inch high heels) to talk to her darling Dylan. Sania, Aria and I strolled at a far more leisurely pace to the courtyard, where our other friend, Sadie Kane was waiting.

Sadie's my best friend in the school. She has long caramel coloured hair which she streaks in different colours, and blue eyes. Sadie is equal parts sarcastic comments and talkativeness. As you could guess, we get along perfectly.

"Hey Misty." she said. "And Sania and Aria."

I grinned. There were still ten minutes before lessons began. Time enough to cause more chaos.

**A/N: So, how is it? Please review and tell me whether I should continue this story or not. **

**Peace out :)**

**~ Akela**


	3. Chapter 2

**I really really really hate German right now. Why the Hades do words have to have a gender? And three genders? And who the fudge cares about cases and dativ and konjunktiv and all that jazz? I mean seriously.**

**Okay, rant over. Sorry.**

**Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've been busy with German (cough), because I'm taking my GCSE exams this year. So damn annoying…**

**Anyways… moving on.**

**Reviews:**

**Guest – Thanks so much, I'm glad you liked it. Hope this chapter's good too**

As the day ended, I walked out BAG, fobbing off Mark Reiser's attempts to hit on me.

"Come on, Misty." he said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "We'd be perfect together."

"I think my life is perfect enough, thanks." I brushed the hand off my shoulder. "I'm busy this summer, and even if I wasn't, no thanks."

"You know you want me, baby." he said.

"Leave me alone, Reiser." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey Misty."

I turned around and saw Mario Favio, son of Thanatos, standing there, grinning in all his deathliness.

An awesome idea entered my head.

I hugged Mario, and whispered in his ear, "Just go along with this for a second."

I pulled back, leaving one arm still slung around Mario's shoulders. "Mario, this is Mark Reiser. Reiser, my boyfriend Mario Favio."

"Your boyfriend?" Mark asked, staring at Mario.

I smirked, because I know Mario is hot. He's two years older than me, making him 19 (I'm 17). He has messy black hair that flops over golden eyes, dark chocolate coloured skin, and a smile that makes the Aphrodite cabin scream and fangirl like mad.

"Yep." I stood on tiptoe and kissed Mario on the lips. He froze for one millisecond, but he had known me for years, and he knew of my crazy impromptu plans. He recovered quickly and smirked, kissing me back.

I pulled away, and laced my fingers through Mario's. "Come on, we should go."

"Of course, Misty." he said. "Nice meeting you, Reiser."

Mario and I walked away, still holding hands.

"What was that all about?" Mario asked.

"He keeps hitting on me, so I thought I'll use you to keep him off." I shrugged.

"Crazy daughter of Eris." he muttered. We rounded down a corner.

"Hey, you liked the kiss." I raised my eyebrows.

"You're a good kisser." he admitted. "If you want, we can try dating again."

"Nah, I like being single." I said. "I like being free."

"Come on then." he said. "Ready to go to camp?"

"Course." I said. Mario gently tugged me into the shadow of a Mercedes, and after a brief sensation of my face being pulled off, we landed next to Thalia's pine tree.

I was hit by a hurricane.

"Let go, Carla." I muttered, but I hugged her back. "Nice to see you too."

"What took you guys so long?" Carla asked, letting me go as I asked.

"Mallika kissed me." Mario said.

"Don't call me Mallika, dude." I punched his arm. "And yes, Carla, stop raising your eyebrows at me. I kissed him because there was this other guy hitting on me, so I made it that Mario was my boyfriend."

"Smart." Carla said. She looked me up and down. "What's with the shirt this year?" she asked. "Last year your trademark outfit was a tank top and jeans."

"It was." I said. "I figure it wasn't my style, so I changed."

"You're crazy." Mario muttered.

"Hey, like you two can talk." I defended myself. "You're all about black t-shirts, black jeans, black jacket, etcetera, etcetera."

"We're kids of death." Carla grinned. "It's part of our, uh, natural charm."

"Natural charm." I snorted. "The non-existent part of it, right?"

"What the Hades did you do to my cabin, Mistero?"

All three of us turned around, Carla and Mario on either side of me. George Avalon, son of Athena, marched up Half-Blood hill, a furious look on his face. I guessed immediately what he wanted.

"Hold on, this will be fun." I whispered to my friends, then walked up to meet George.

"What happened now, Avalon?" I asked, faking innocence and exasperation.

"Don't try to act innocent." he stopped right in front of me. "You painted my cabin pink!"

I took a step forward. "I just got here."

He moved forwards too, so we were inches apart. "I know you're not above IM-ing one of the kids who look up to you _so_ much, and getting them to do it for you."

"Why are you assuming that I'm to blame?" I asked, cursing the fact that George was two inches taller than me.

"Because." He scowled. "Wherever the daughter of Eris is, chaos just _happens_ to follow." His eyes were nearly sparking with anger. Unlike the rest of his siblings, George's eyes were more of a bluish-grey colour, his blond hair brushed carefully away from them.

I shrugged. "I'm flattered, really, Avalon.

George is the new head of the Athena cabin, after Annabeth Chase decided that she didn't want the place any more, and Malcolm went to New Rome last year to attend college. George is all about strategy and plans. Plans don't work for me. It started with a couple of Capture the Flag plans of his that I busted, and now we're arch enemies.

Remember I said my life is perfect? George is part of the perfect life. Because honestly, life is boring without an enemy or two.

George and I glared at each other, grey-blue eyes locked with black, then he spun around and stormed down the hill.

Carla came up behind me. "You two should just get together already."

"What?" I asked, incredulous.

"You guys like each other. It's obvious." Mario said.

"I do not like George Avalon." I said. "He's an annoying prick who thinks that everything in life can be drafted out as a _plan_."

"He is cute." Carla noted.

I snorted. "Oh please. If you think so, you can date him. Now can I dump my stuff in my cabin? My backpack weighs a ton."

"What's up, dude?" Ethan Jones asked George, as his brother marched into the cabin and slammed the door behind him. "You look like you swallowed some of the Hecate cabin's temper potion."

George looked at his younger half-brother in disbelief. "Haven't you _seen_ what the outside of our cabin looks like?"

Ethan grinned. "Yeah, I found out that it was Kayla, you know, the daughter of Apollo, and Daffy and Lexis, from Aphrodite. They said that that daughter of Eris, Misty, put them up to it, via IM."

"I know!" George said. "I just spoke to Misty. She's acting all cocky and innocent and irritating as usual. She just loves causing trouble. Stupid daughter of Eris, she can annoy people even if she's not at camp! I'm tired of..."

Ethan watched George pacing around their cabin. "I'd say you have a crush on her."

George stopped mid-rant and turned around.

"What?" he asked, incredulous.

"You have a crush on Mallika Mistero." Ethan said.

"No I don't." George said. "She can never be serious, always getting up to some crazy scheme or the other. And nothing she does comes out right."

"She's pretty." Ethan said.

George scoffed. "Yeah, right. Don't we have archery with the Apollo cabin?"

Up in Olympus, Aphrodite was sitting in her room, rubbing her hands delightedly.

The goddess of love was dressed in a flowing pink dress, with a silver sash. Her hair was a jet black, flowing down her back in little curls. Light pink eye-shadow made her gorgeous brown eyes look even bigger, and her lips were cherry red.

In front of her was a large screen, which was showing Misty and George's fight on Half-Blood hill.

Aphrodite leaned back in her comfy chair, and picked up a remote control from her table. On the screen, Misty shrugged and said, "I'm flattered, really, Avalon."

Aphrodite squealed as George stormed away, and Carla said, "You two should just get together already."

"Yes!" Aphrodite murmured.

"What?" The screen-Misty asked.

"You guys like each other. It's obvious." The screen-Mario said.

"Now she confesses her love for George Avalon to her best friends." Aphrodite urged.

"I do not like George Avalon." The screen-Misty said.

"Argh!" Aphrodite threw up her hands in frustration, managing to make the gesture charming. "I wonder what George is doing."

She clicked a button on the remote, and the scene changed to George and Ethan in the Athena cabin.

"I'd say you have a crush on her." The screen-Ethan said.

"Yes, go Ethan!" Aphrodite cheered, resolving to 'help' Ethan with his love life. Janie Levett from the Hecate cabin was available.

"What?" The screen-George asked.

"You have a crush on Mallika Mistero." The screen-Ethan said.

"No I don't." The screen-George said.

"NO!" Aphrodite said. "Can't they see they're perfect for each other? George is strategy, Misty is chaos! They're opposites, and opposites attract! And they have these small similarities, that makes it so much cuter. And plus..."

Aphrodite ranted on about the obliviousness of her newest OTP (which changed every few days), then calmed herself and clicked the remote again, turning the screen off.

"Stupid oblivious demigods." Aphrodite said. "It's so cute though, the way they deny everything."

An idea started forming in her head. "Or maybe they just need a little help..."

**A/N: Wow, for some reason I really enjoy writing about Aphrodite fangirling and plotting. Does that mean anything?**

**So now we have the Favio siblings (Carla and Mario) and George. I think Jessi will come up in a chapter or two. **

**Review, please! I want to know what you guys think. I've actually nearly finished writing the story, I just need to organize it into chapters, proof-read it (because I'm a Grammar Nazi, sue me), and post it. I've even started working on a new story, 'Letting go of the Dead', about Carla's summer.**

**Please, please, **_**please**_** review. I'd be sooo happy.**

**~ Akela**


	4. Chapter 3

**Salt and vinegar chips are awesome. Just thought I'd put that out there.**

**My geography teacher said we had a 'class outing', and we all got excited, because hey, any day that we get to skip lessons is a good day. But then she told us that we were going to Central, which is (as the name suggests) the business center of Hong Kong. And all of us have been there so many times. **

**Ah, life.**

I closed the door of my cabin behind me, and sighed happily. Home sweet home.

My cabin was a mess.

The walls were swirling gradients of purple, blue and silver, constantly moving around and changing. The floor was black marble. My bed was unmade, the way I'd left it last summer, and pushed away against the far wall. There was a large window on one side, dark blue curtains messily drawn across. Most of the floor was covered by a hand-painted purple and blue carpet (Stella and I made it, four years ago), while the rest was littered with paper, fallen bits of ambrosia, rolls of duct tape (I love that stuff), spare clothes, chocolate and canned drinks, and a celestial bronze sword which I had probably forgotten to return to the weapon's shed.

I made a mental note to return the sword and clean the mess, then promptly forgot about it.

I crossed the room, careful not to step on the sword, and dumped my bag on my bed. I tossed my clothes into my wardrobe (every time I opened it, I almost caused an avalanche of clothes), threw the ambrosia and nectar into a drawer and dropped the duct tape rolls on the floor.

Then I took out my knives and their belt. I wrapped the belt around my waist, and inserted the knives into it. Silver and Bronze on the left, Gold on the right. The blades were uncovered, but it was okay, because they'd shrink to nothing if I sat down.

A paper appeared on my bed.

I scanned it. It was a schedule of activities I was supposed to attend today. (It actually said _my cabin, _not just me, but I'm currently the only child of Eris, because apparently, all kids of Eris die early, since they're so reckless. It's a real cheering thought)

I ignored the top six activities, because I'd missed those. I focused on the seventh.

_Rock Climbing (Thanatos, Hades, Eris)_

Why the Hades was I paired with the two death cabins? I have nothing against death gods and their kids (Carla and Mario are children of Thanatos), but Eris isn't a death goddess!

I controlled the urge to march up to Chiron and tell him this, and focused on the eighth.

_Sword Fighting (Athena, Poseidon, Eris)_

Hades no! I was_ not_grouped with the Athena cabin. I wanted to avoid George as far as possible. And I'd have to watch Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase flirting with each other. So damn annoying.

I sighed and headed out for rock climbing.

The rock climbing wall was going in full lava and fire mode, while Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, attempted to scale it. Carla, Mario, and Janie Levett, daughter of Hecate, were standing below, calling out helpful (and unhelpful) advice.

"Try the foothold next to your knee!" Carla suggested.

"You're not going to make it, give up!" Mario shouted.

I smacked him on the head. "Idiot."

"Ow, what the Ha... oh, hi, Misty." Mario rubbed his head.

I laughed, then turned to Janie. "Hey, Janie. When did you get to camp?"

"Just now, actually." she replied, high-fiving me. "I don't know what activity I have, so I'm just hanging out here with you guys."

"We're honored." Carla said sarcastically. "Watch out for the lava, Nico!"

I turned my attention to the wall. Nico had narrowly avoided a spurt of lava, and was hanging from a ledge by one hand.

"Feet!" I yelled. "There are footholds, slightly above your feet."

Nico managed to regain his footholds, gave us a thumbs up to show he was alright, then started climbing again.

I grabbed a pair of climbing gloves from a pile, pulling them on. "I'm climbing the other side."

I didn't, actually, make it to the top. I literally had to jump off the wall to avoid getting crisp-fried by a jet of flames. I landed right between Nico and Mario.

"Ouch." I complained.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked.

"Just peachy." I replied. "Good job, by the way." He had climbed all the way to the top.

"Thanks, I've just had more practice." he said.

"It's half passed five." Janie said, but I had no idea how she knew. She didn't have a watch. "I'll have to run to my cabin and check what activity I have."

"We have archery." Mario said. "With the Hades and Apollo cabins." he glanced at Nico.

"Really?" Nico asked. "I hadn't checked the schedule."

"I have sword fighting." I said, then made a face. "With Athena and Poseidon."

"Say hi to Percy and Annabeth for me." Nico said.

"Will do." I nodded. "See you guys later, then."

The sword fighting arena was kind of empty-ish, with only a few demigods fighting.

Percy and Annabeth were on full-on warrior mode, which was impressive to watch. Percy fought with his celestial bronze sword, Riptide, while Annabeth used a Draken Bone sword.

There were five other Athena kids. I guessed the others hadn't arrived at camp yet. I recognised Ethan Jones, who was fighting with his half sister, Elizabeth. On the other side of the arena, Nathaniel Marnick was teaching their youngest sibling, Isabella, the basic sword techniques.

George Avalon, who was left without a partner, was stabbing at training dummies.

"Want to fight?" I asked, selecting my bronze knife and twirling it between my fingers.

He sliced through a dummy and nodded. "Sure."

I noticed the cold, distant manner. "Okay, look, I'm sorry about the cabin. I'll get it back to the original grey."

He seemed to consider this for a second. "So you admit you were behind the prank."

"Your powers of observation stun me." I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure Kayla, Lexi and Daffy already told you that, considering that you would have done extensive Sherlock Holmes-ing to find out if I was guilty."

He raised his eyebrows. "Sherlock Holmes-ing?"

"Yep." I confirmed. "So are we fighting, or what?"

He nodded, holding his sword in a fighting stance. I got ready too. He moved first, aiming a blow at my head, which I deflected. My knife grew longer, and I stabbed at his stomach. He managed to block it, but only just.

"Your knife changes size?" he asked.

"Of course." I grinned. I attacked again, but he caught my knife against his sword edge and tried to twist it out of my hand.

My knife blade shrank to about an inch long, and his sword blade slipped off. My blade grew again, and I knocked the sword out of his hand, ending with the point at his throat.

"I win." I said.

"Your knife can grow and shrink." George said. "That's not fair."

"An empousa can hypnotize you." I shrugged. "How is that fair?"

He blinked. "That sounded smart."

"What, you think I'm not smart? Just because you're a son of Athena?" I asked.

"Fair enough." He admitted. "Rematch?"

After figuring out my style, George turned out to be better with a sword than me. He won 3 times out of the 5 turns we had.

"My mom _is _the goddess of battle strategy." he shrugged.

"Figures." I replied. "Good job anyways."

"Thanks."

"I'll see you later then?" I said. "I have better stuff to do than hang out with you."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course. Feelings are mutual, as always."

I went back to my cabin where I took a shower, and changed into a new pair of skinny jeans and a tank top. Carla would definitely say "I told you so" when she saw me. Or at least comment on the tank top.

The clock by my bed read 7 pm, so I flopped onto my bed and pulled out my iPod. Mario had given it to me two years ago, when we were dating. It was charmed by the Hecate cabin, and had a ton of special features. It could create a hologram rainbow for Iris messages, alert me when a monster was in a 50 metre radius to me, and it had a first class GPS system. Right now, though, I just wanted to listen to music.

I selected _Young Volcanoes_ by Fall Out Boy, but before the song started, there was a knock at my door.

I sighed and paused my iPod, then got up to answer the door.

Carla was standing there. She'd changed her plain black t-shirt, and now wore _another_ black t-shirt which said _'Death is coming for you'_. Cheerful.

As soon as she saw me, her golden eyes gleamed and she shouted, "I told you so!"

"Yeah, yeah." I muttered, silently congratulating myself on knowing my best friend so well.

"I knew a shirt wasn't your style." Carla said. "You practically lived in a tank top last summer."

"Yes, I know, Cal." I said. "It started getting a bit chilly down in Brooklyn, so Dani got me some shirts, thinking I'd catch a cold in my tank tops. And they grew on me."

"Still, I knew you'd change back to your tank tops." Carla grinned.

"Like you can talk." I gestured to her t-shirt. "Death is coming for you? Are you advertising your dad?"

"Just giving everyone a head start." Carla shrugged. "Since they're all going to die someday. Anyway, I came to cordially invite you to the camp's weekly truth or dare game."

"Since when does Camp Half-Blood have a weekly truth or dare game?" I asked.

"Since last November, actually." Carla said. "You missed out on lots of funny secrets."

I grinned. "Sounds like fun."

**A/N: Oops, did I go kind of overboard with the OCs?**

**Most of them aren't important, really. Ethan Jones is, kind of. And Janie Levett.**

**By the way, in case anyone is interested (I have no idea why anyone would be) Mario's **_**encouraging**_** (*cough* sarcasm *cough*) attitude towards Nico while he was rock climbing is inspired by a friend of mine. He loves annoying me while I'm rock climbing, calling out stuff like "oops, the rope is slipping from my fingers", or "I hope you'll be fine up there, cause I'm just going to take a break". **

**And of course Nico popped up in this story. Do you guys seriously expect me to write a story without Nico? If you've read any of my other stories, you'll see how obsessed I am with him. But don't worry, he won't be coming up majorly.**

**Peace out!**

**~ Akela**


	5. Chapter 4

**WARNING! BLOOD OF OLYMPUS SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT PROGRESS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOO!**

**Now that that's out of the way…**

**This chapter contains a bit of Solangelo. I personally think that Solangelo is the next best thing since Jisbon (Jane and Lisbon, for anyone who watches The Mentalist), and a dose of Solangelo never hurt anyone.**

**On a side note, I have just started watching Suits. It is freaking awesome. Really, I'm collecting way too many fandoms. Not enough time to fangirl!**

**Also, guess I've been forgetting the disclaimer, so I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. (*sob* NO! Okay, okay, I'm fine) But, I do own my OCs! :)**

The truth or dare game was being held around the campfire. Quite a few campers had already gathered around. Mario was there, of course. Janie was sitting between her half-sister Lou Ellen (head of the Hecate cabin) and, to my surprise, Ethan Jones. Ethan and Janie were chatting quietly together. Next to Lou Ellen was Cecil, son of Hermes. Both Lou and Cecil were grinning at Will Solace, who sat next to Cecil, with one arm around Nico di Angelo. Nico looked highly embarrassed by Will's one-armed hug, but slightly pleased too.

But mainly, I was surprised by the son of Athena sitting between Mario and Ethan.

"What are you doing _here_, Avalon?" I asked.

George rolled his eyes. "Have your eyes decided to stop working, Mistero? I'm waiting to play truth or dare, of course."

"Congratulations, so you decided to actually have fun!" I said with fake brightness.

"I know how to have fun!" George said indignantly.

I was about to make a sarcastic remark, but Carla shoved Mario aside, creating a space between him and George, and sat down next to her brother, forcing me down next to George.

"Okay, lovebirds, can you keep the flirting down for now?" Carla asked.

All the demigods snickered.

"We're not flirting!" George and I said at the same time.

The other demigods roared with laughter. George turned red, making him look a lot like a strawberry. A dried up strawberry, due to his blond hair.

I just buried my face in my hands. "Can we start the game?"

"Of course." Mario stood up. The campfire made his golden eyes gleam. "I'm starting."

He looked around, eyes landing on Nico. "Di Angelo, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Nico said, trying (but not very hard) to shake off Will's arm.

"List all the crushes you've ever had." Mario said.

Nico turned even redder than George. "Um... I, okay, fine, it's going to be a very short list."

"We don't care." Cecil said. "Hurry up."

"Well, I had a crush on Percy Jackson." Nico said.

"I knew it!" Lou yelled. "Cecil, pay up."

"Fine." Cecil grumbled, digging out a few drachmas from his pocket and passing them to Lou. The daughter of Hecate pocketed them with a grin.

Nico stared at them in disbelief. "You bet on whether I liked Percy?"

"Duh." Lou said. "Move on. Any more?"

"Yes, the guy I like now." Nico muttered.

I leaned forwards. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Will." Nico said, almost inaudibly. Will grinned.

"You idiot." he said. He kissed Nico, and the son of Hades turned even redder than before.

"Before they start making out," Janie said. "Let's move on. Nico, you can ask anyone."

Nico scanned the group of demigods. "Janie, truth or dare?"

"Just because I stopped you making out with Will, huh?" Janie grumbled. "Fine, dare."

"I dare you to..." Nico paused, either to think of something or for dramatic effect, "ask the Aphrodite cabin for a makeover, tomorrow morning, and then pretend that Ethan is your boyfriend."

"What?" Ethan asked. "How did I get dragged into this?"

"There's no other single guy here." Nico said matter-of-factly.

"Hey, I'm single." George said. "Not that I want to date Janie. Um, no offense, Janie."

"None taken." Janie said. "And I'll get back at you for this, di Angelo."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Nico said. "By the way, tell the Aphrodite cabin that your hair style has to include two pigtails. And even though you're currently single, George, you're reserved for Misty."

Seriously, what the actual Hades was going on with people shipping me with George? Nico too, now? I glared at him, and I wasn't the only one. George and Janie were also giving him their best death-glares, and if Nico hadn't been the son of Hades, he'd probably be burnt to ashes by now.

"Bastard." I muttered. "Janie, your turn."

Janie rubbed her hands together. "Carla, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Carla said.

"Drink this." Janie grinned widely and held out a plastic bottle, which was half-filled with a pale pink liquid.

Carla hesitantly took the bottle.

"It's not poison, is it?" Ethan asked.

"No, it's not." Carla confirmed, then looked around. "What? I can sense if something is a means of death. Child of Thanatos here, people."

"And as tempting as it is, Ethan, I don't want to kill Carla." Janie said, looking rather hurt at the suggestion.

"I didn't mean you'd voluntarily kill her!" Ethan said.

"Just drink it already." George said.

Carla twisted the cap off with some difficulty, since it was screwed on very tightly. She tilted the bottle, and took a sip.

"It's not bad." she said. "Tastes like vanilla."

"Finish it." Janie ordered, leaning forwards in her seat eagerly.

Carla drained the bottle. We all waited in silence. Half a minute passed, then Mario said, "Well, that was anti-climatic."

We all laughed, but Janie shouted, "Shut up! Look!"

"What?" Carla asked.

Fluffy things were sprouting from the top of her head. they grew longer, then flopped to the sides.

We all burst into laughter.

"What happened?" Carla asked, rather frantically.

"You have bunny ears!" I told my best friend.

Carla's eyes widened. She felt the ears, then put her hands in her lap, and frowned in concentration. Her ears twitched, then stood up straight. Then they twisted themselves up.

"I like them." Carla grinned. "They aren't permanent, are they?"

"No." Janie said. "They'll go away by tomorrow. "

"Perfect." Carla said. "My turn, right?"

"Yeah." I confirmed.

"Okay, Misty, truth or dare?" She asked.

"Damn you." I muttered. "Okay, truth."

"Do you like George?" Carla asked immediately.

George groaned. I face-palmed.

"Can I clear something up?" I asked. "I do not, in any way or form, like George Avalon. In fact, I absolutely hate him and his so called strategy."

"Feelings are exactly the same here." George said. "But it's not 'so called' strategy, Mistero. Just because you are incapable of following a structured plan doesn't mean everyone is."

"I'm just extremely ADHD." I shrugged. "And your plans suck."

"No they don't!"

"Yes they do!"

"No."

"Yep."

"No."

"Yep."

"Oh, for Hades sake, just kiss already!" Mario said.

I punched him.

"But _why?"_ I almost whined , sitting cross-legged on the silky black sheets of one of the beds in the Thanatos cabin.

Carla stood in front of me, arms crossed. "Because you are in major denial, so we are trying to help you."

"_Help_ me?" I asked, incredulous. "You're going to humiliate me in front of the entire camp!"

"Every single fucking person in the camp ships you and George together." Carla said, jabbing a finger in my chest. "So they'll be happy about this."

"Cal, firstly, why am I being shipped with someone?"

"Because you're popular at camp, and your love-life has been decidedly uninteresting since you broke up with my idiotic brother two years ago." Carla answered.

"I'm not idiotic!" Mario piped up, from where he was sitting on his (actually, it was Carla's) swivel chair. He'd been silent for our conversation, so we'd been ignoring him.

Carla acted as though her older brother hadn't spoken and continued. "I know you dated Thomas Garcia for two weeks last summer, but still, boring. So we want to see you hook up with someone. We want action."

"Fine." I said. I could accept that. "But why George Avalon of all people?"

"Because we really think you like him." Mario said, too seriously to be joking.

"She does." Carla said. "She's just kind of embarrassed to admit it."

I bit my lip. I could have said something really cutting to that, but I'd seen Carla reduced to tears (unintentionally) by Janie once , when the daughter of Hecate had brought up the topic.

Carla's love-life (or actually, lack thereof) was a touchy matter. When Carla was eleven, and didn't know of her heritage yet, she had a crush on a mortal boy named Dan Kevlar. When Carla (and Dan) were fourteen, a dracanae had attacked them, drawn by Carla's demigod scent. Dan had died and Carla fell unconscious due to too much bleeding. A satyr brought her to camp, and when she woke up, the main thing she remembered about the incident was that Dan's death was her fault.

And despite Mario, Janie, Nico and my urging and protesting, she never changed her mind and wouldn't ever date anyone again.

I understood her logic. She said that she couldn't get Dan out of her mind, and that dating someone while liking someone else (albeit a dead someone else) was unfair. But still, she couldn't criticize me for my current lack of boyfriend if she was single too.

"I don't like George." I said firmly. "And I won't do this."

_'This' _was a dare right at the end of last night's truth or dare which I had received from Ethan Jones. Apparently, he was (like everyone) determined to set me up with his half-brother. Towards the end, George had gone back to his cabin, saying he needed to IM someone. Ethan had seized the opportunity.

"Misty, I dare you to wear a pink dress to Friday's campfire, and at the end, get up on stage and sing 'I'm Yours', by Jason Mraz, dedicating it to a special someone."

Every demigod present at the truth or dare had latched onto the idea like deadly ADHD leeches. And now Carla was forcing me to complete the dare.

Carla sighed. She rolled her eyes . "Are you scared?"

"Of making a fool of myself?" I asked. "Nope."

"Was that sarcasm?" Mario asked.

"No." I said. "The reason I won't do it is that I don't like George."

"Denial, denial." Carla said. "And fine then. Pretend that the song isn't for George, but for some imaginary crush you have. Pretend you're singing to Harry Styles."

That was so ridiculous I laughed. "I don't like Harry Styles, Cal. And people will still assume I'm singing to George."

Mario looked at Carla. Carla looked at Mario. A look passed between the siblings. I knew what was coming.

"Mallika." Carla said, slowly and deliberately. "If you do not complete Ethan's fantastic and utterly brilliant dare, I will send The Video to everyone at camp."

"You wouldn't." I said.

"Including your foster sister, Stella." Mario added.

I groaned, but they'd got me. "Fine. Just... not The Video, please."

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun ! **

**So there's Carla's backstory. It will be included in 'Letting go of the Dead' (which, reminder, is going to be Carla's story). **

**Are there any Suits or Mentalist fans out there? I feel kind of lonely, since none of my friends watch those shows.**

**So what were your favourite lines in that chapter?**

**Please REVIEW! It would be so awesome.**

**~ Akela**


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